U.S. patent number 6,215,590 [Application Number 09/246,696] was granted by the patent office on 2001-04-10 for stereoscopic image display apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba. Invention is credited to Hideaki Okano.
United States Patent |
6,215,590 |
Okano |
April 10, 2001 |
Stereoscopic image display apparatus
Abstract
A stereoscopic image display apparatus having a light source
that defines at least one right and left light-cells which provide
plural pairs of right and left lights. A spatial modulator, spaced
apart from the light source, spatially modulates the right and left
lights from the light source so as to focus the right and left
lights on the eyes of at least one viewer. A display mode changer
is capable of automatically changing the display mode of the image
display between a stereoscopic image display mode and a normal
plane image display mode. The display is automatically changed in
accordance with the location of the viewer or in response to an
instruction from the viewer.
Inventors: |
Okano; Hideaki (Kanagawa-ken,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
(Kanagawa-ken, JP)
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Family
ID: |
12219715 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/246,696 |
Filed: |
February 9, 1999 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Feb 9, 1998 [JP] |
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10-027389 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
359/464; 348/54;
348/55; 348/56; 359/462; 348/E13.062; 348/E13.031; 348/E13.058;
348/E13.046; 348/E13.044; 348/E13.03; 348/E13.042; 348/E13.059;
348/E13.029; 348/E13.05 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
13/368 (20180501); H04N 13/398 (20180501); H04N
13/31 (20180501); G02B 30/24 (20200101); H04N
13/346 (20180501); H04N 13/305 (20180501); H04N
13/32 (20180501); H04N 13/361 (20180501); H04N
13/376 (20180501); H04N 13/189 (20180501); H04N
13/363 (20180501); H04N 19/597 (20141101) |
Current International
Class: |
G02B
27/22 (20060101); H04N 13/00 (20060101); G02B
027/22 (); H04N 013/04 (); H04N 015/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;359/462,463,464,466
;348/56,58,59,57 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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5-244643 |
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Sep 1993 |
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JP |
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7013105 |
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Jan 1995 |
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JP |
|
Primary Examiner: Chang; Audrey
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Pillsbury Madison & Sutro
LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A stereoscopic image display apparatus, comprising:
a light source having right and left shutter-cells for providing
plural pairs of right and left lights to project right and left
images, respectively;
a spatial modulator spaced apart from the light source for
spatially modulating said plural pairs of right and left lights
from said light source so as to provide said right and left images
on the eyes of at least one viewer;
a display mode changer, coupled to and controlling said light
source, for changing a display mode between a stereoscopic image
display mode and a normal plane image display mode in accordance
with a location of said at least one viewer; and
a lighting controller located within said display mode changer for
controlling said right and left shutter-cells;
wherein said light controller alternately activates said right and
left shutter-cells to alternately project said right and left
lights to said spatial modulator when said display mode is selected
to operate in said stereoscopic image display mode; and
wherein said light controller simultaneously activates all right
and left shutter-cells in synchronization with the projection of
said right or left lights, respectively, to said spatial modulator
when said display mode is selected to operate in said normal plane
image display mode.
2. A stereoscopic image display apparatus, comprising:
a light source having right and left shutter-cells for providing
plural pairs of right and left lights to project right and left
images, respectively;
a spatial modulator spaced apart from said light source for
spatially modulating said plural pairs of right and left lights
from said light source so as to provide said right and left images
on the eyes of at least one viewer;
a display mode changer, coupled to and controlling said light
source, for changing a display mode between a stereoscopic image
display mode and a normal plane image display mode in accordance
with instructions received from said at least one viewer; and
a lighting controller located within said display mode changer for
controlling said right and left shutter-cells;
wherein said light controller alternately activates said right and
left shutter-cells to alternately project said right and left
lights to said spatial modulator when said display mode is selected
to operate in said stereoscopic image display mode; and
wherein said light controller simultaneously activates all right
and left shutter-cells in synchronization with the projection of
said right or left lights, respectively, to said spatial modulator
when said display mode is selected to operate in said normal plane
image display mode.
3. A stereoscopic image display apparatus according to claim 1 or
2, wherein said lighting controller controls said light source to
illuminate a region containing both said right and left
shutter-cells in said normal plane image display mode to display
one of said right and left images.
4. A stereoscopic image display apparatus as claimed in claim
3,
at least one or more viewers viewing said right and left images in
said normal plane image display;
at least one or more viewers viewing said right and left images in
said stereoscopic image display mode;
at least one of said right or left shutter panel defining a first
region for positioning said shutter cells associated with
displaying said right and left images in said normal plane image
display mode; and
at least one of said right or left shutter panel defining a second
region for position said shutter cells associated with displaying
said right and left images in said stereoscopic image display mode
so that first region and the second region do not overlap.
5. A stereoscopic image display apparatus, comprising:
a light source projecting a right light and a left light to provide
a right image and a left image, respectively;
a right shutter panel having a right and left shutter-cells for
receiving said right light projected from said light source and for
providing plural pairs of lights to project said right image;
a left-shutter panel having a right and left shutter-cells for
receiving said left light projected from said light source and for
providing plural pairs of lights to project said left image;
a first spatial modulator spaced apart from the light source for
spatially modulating said right light from said right shutter panel
so as to provide said right image on the right eye of at least one
viewer;
a second spatial modulator spaced apart from the light source for
spatially modulating said left light from said left shutter panel
so as to provide said left image on the left eye of at least one
viewer;
a display mode changer, coupled to and controlling said light
source, for changing a display mode between a stereoscopic image
display mode and a normal plane image display mode in accordance
with a location of said at least one viewer; and
a lighting controller located within said display mode changer for
designating light to said right and left shutter-cells located in
the right shutter panel and the left shutter panel; and
wherein said light controller alternately activates said right and
left shutter-cells of said right and left shutter panels in
synchronization when said display mode is selected to operate in
said stereoscopic image display mode; and
wherein said light controller simultaneously activates said right
and left shutter-cell of said right shutter panel and
simultaneously activates the right and left shutter-cells of the
left shutter panel alternately when said display mode is selected
to operate in said normal plane image display mode.
6. A stereoscopic image display apparatus, comprising:
a light source projecting a right light and a left light to provide
a right image and a left image, respectively;
a right shutter panel having a right and left shutter-cells for
receiving said right light projected from said light source and for
providing plural pairs of lights to project said right image;
a left shutter panel having a right and left shutter-cells
receiving said left light projected from said light source and for
providing plural pairs of lights to project said left image;
a first spatial modulator spaced apart from the light source for
spatially modulating said right light from said right shutter panel
so as to provide said right image on the right eye of at least one
viewer;
a second spatial modulator spaced apart from the light source for
spatially modulating said left light from said left shutter panel
so as to provide said left image on the left eye of at least one
viewer;
a display mode changer, coupled to and controlling said light
source, for changing a display mode between a stereoscopic image
display mode and a normal plane image display mode in accordance
with instructions received from said at least one viewer; and
a lighting controller located within said display mode changer for
designating light to said right and left shutter-cells located in
the right shutter panel and the left shutter panel; and
wherein said light controller alternately activates said right and
left shutter-cells of said right and left shutter panels in
synchronization when said display mode is selected to operate in
said stereoscopic image display mode; and
wherein said light controller simultaneously activates said right
and left shutter-cells of said right shutter panel and
simultaneously activates the right and left shutter-cells of the
left shutter panel alternately when said display mode is selected
to operate in said normal plane image display mode.
7. A stereoscopic image display apparatus according to claim 5 or
6, wherein said lighting controller controls said light source to
illuminate a region containing both said right and left
shutter-cells in said normal plane image display mode to display
one of right and left images so as to project the lights spatially
modulated by one of said first and second spatial modulators on
both the right and left eyes of said at least one viewer.
8. A stereoscopic image display apparatus as claimed in claim
7,
at least one or more viewers viewing said right and left images in
said normal plane image display;
at least one or more viewers viewing said right and left images in
said stereoscopic image display mode;
at least one of said right or left shutter panel defining a first
region for positioning said shutter cells associated with
displaying said right and left images in said normal plane image
display mode; and
at least one of said right or left shutter panel defining a second
region for position said shutter cells associated with displaying
said right and left images in said stereoscopic image display mode
so that first region and the second region do not overlap.
9. A stereoscopic image display apparatus as in claim 1,2,5 or 6,
wherein said display mode changer changes said display mode to said
normal plane image display mode when alignment of both the right
and left eyes of said at least one viewer has tilted from an image
display screen more than a specific angle.
10. A stereoscopic image display apparatus, comprising:
a light source having right and left shutter-cells for providing
plural pairs of right and left lights to project right and left
images, respectively;
a spatial modulator spaced apart from the light source for
spatially modulating said plural pairs of right and left lights
from said light source so as to provide said right and left images
on the eyes of at least one viewer;
a display mode changer, having a tracker mechanism and a controller
interface therein, said tracker mechanism connected to said
controller interface for determining a location of said at least
one viewer, said controller interface being connected to said light
source and said spatial modulator for controlling said light source
so as to adjust the position of said right and left shutter-cells,
for changing a display mode between a stereoscopic image display
mode and a normal plane image display mode in accordance with a
location of said at least one viewer; and
a light controller located within said display mode changer for
controlling said right and left shutter-cells;
wherein said light controller alternately activates said right and
left shutter-cells to alternately project said right and left
lights to said spatial modulator when said display mode is selected
to operate in said stereoscopic image display mode; and
wherein said light controller simultaneously activates all right
and left shutter-cells in synchronization with the projection of
said right or left lights, respectively, to said spatial modulator
when said display mode is selected to operate in said normal plane
image display mode.
11. A stereoscopic image display apparatus, comprising:
a light source having right and left shutter-cells for providing
plural pairs of right and left lights to project right and left
images, respectively;
a spatial modulator spaced apart from the light source for
spatially modulating said plural pairs of right and left lights
from said light source so as to provide said right and left images
on the eyes of at least one viewer;
a display mode changer, having a tracker mechanism and a controller
interface therein, said tracker mechanism connected to said
controller interface for determining a location of said at least
one viewer, said controller interface being connected to said light
source and said spatial modulator for controlling said light source
so as to adjust the position of said right and left shutter-cells,
for changing a display mode between a stereoscopic image display
mode and a normal plane image display mode in accordance with
instructions received from said at least one viewer; and
a light controller located within said display mode changer for
controlling said right and left shutter-cells;
wherein said light controller alternately activates said right and
left shutter-cells to alternately project said right and left
lights to said spatial modulator when said display mode is selected
to operate in said stereoscopic image display mode; and
wherein said light controller simultaneously activates all right
and left shutter-cells in synchronization with the projection of
said right or left lights, respectively, to said spatial modulator
when said display mode is selected to operate in said normal plane
image display mode.
Description
FILED OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the viewer following style of
stereoscopic image display apparatus, more particularly to the
stereoscopic image display apparatus capable of presenting a
stereoscopic image based on a parallax of the eyes of the
viewers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional
stereoscopic image display apparatus as disclosed in the Japanese
Patent Application; Tokkai-Hei 5-244643.
The stereoscopic image display apparatus is provided with a display
unit 101 of the movable video projector having two optical systems
for projecting the parallax image, and the large-diameter convex
lens 102 for focusing the projected image on each right and left
eyes of the viewer.
In this apparatus, by provided with the convex lens 102 between the
display unit 101 providing a pair of the movable projector which is
able to project the stereoscopic image and the viewer 103, it
distributes the stereoscopic image to both eyes of the viewer.
Then, the optical sensor (not shown) provided near the display unit
101 captures the position of the viewer 103, so that the display
unit 101 moves mechanically to focus the image on the eyes of the
viewer 103.
However, in the conventional stereoscopic image display apparatus
there is a drawback explained below. Though the stereoscopic image
display apparatus moves in accordance with the movement of the
viewer, the stereoscopic image is not captured by both eyes of the
viewer 103 when viewer's is head is not horizontal, so that when
he/she tilts his/her head to the screen he/she can not observe the
image.
FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing another conventional
stereoscopic image display apparatus as disclosed in the Japanese
Patent Application, Tokkai-Hei 7-13105. The stereoscopic image
display apparatus comprises a screen 112 comprised of a diffuse
transmission layer and two lenticular lenses sandwiching the layer,
and a movable stereoscopic image projector 111 comprised of a right
image projector 111R and a left image projector 111L.
The apparatus is provided with the stereoscopic instrumentation
unit 114, which determines the perspective and the positions of
both eyes of the viewer 113, and making the projector 111 track the
movement of the viewer 113. Thus the viewer 113 circumvents
constraints of his/her position. Further, since the right and left
image projectors 111R, 111L are each independently movable, it
enhances the degree of flexibility of the posture of the
viewer.
When the viewer tilts his/her head, the conventional stereoscopic
image display apparatus as described above tracks the tilt by
shifting the right and left image projectors 111R, 111L in the
vertical direction. However, in general the stereoscopic image
contains only information of parallax between views of the left and
right eyes. So that, the more the viewer tilts his/her head, the
more the fusion of the stereoscopic image and the stereoscopic view
will become difficult.
As described above, in the conventional stereoscopic image display
apparatus, the projector moves in tracking movements of a viewer so
that the right image is always captured by his/her right eye, and
the left image is always captured by his/her left eye. However, the
conventional stereoscopic image display apparatus can not track the
tilting of the viewer's head. Provided if it could track the
tilting, not only it actually fails to provide the viewer with any
stereoscopic views, but also it fails to correctly fuse right
images and left images with each other, thus viewers observe a
double image.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is addressed to overcome the problems as
described above. Thus it is an object of the present invention to
provide a stereoscopic image display apparatus which is capable of
changing the display mode between a stereoscopic image display and
a normal plane image display when it is hard to present a
stereoscopic view of images to viewer due to their postures.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a
stereoscopic image display apparatus which is capable of
simultaneously presenting a stereoscopic image display for one
viewer and a normal plane image display for another viewer.
In order to achieve the above object, a stereoscopic image display
apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes
a light source defined a light-cells for providing plural pairs of
right and left lights, a spatial modulator for spatially modulating
the right and left lights from the light source so as to focus the
right and left lights on eyes of a plurality of viewers, and a
display mode changer for changing a display mode between a
stereoscopic image display mode an a normal plane image display
mode in accordance with location of the viewers.
A stereoscopic image display apparatus according to another aspect
of the present invention includes a light source defined a
light-cells for providing plural pairs of right and left lights, a
spatial modulator for spatially modulating the right and left
lights from the light source so as to focus the right and left
lights on eyes of a plurality of viewers, a display mode changer
for changing a display mode between a stereoscopic image display
mode and a normal plane image display mode in accordance with
locations the viewers, and a lighting controller for controlling
the right and left light-cells to alternately light with each other
in synchronism with the alternating lighting of the right and left
lights when the display mode changer selects the stereoscopic image
display mode and to simultaneously light with each other for
displaying either one of the right and left images when the display
mode changer selects the normal plane image display.
A stereoscopic image display apparatus according to still another
aspect of the present invention includes a light source defined as
light-cells for providing plural pairs of right and left lights, a
first spatial modulator for spatially modulating the right light
from the light source so as to focus the right light on right eyes
of a plurality of viewers and a second spatial modulator for
spatially modulating the left light from the light source so as to
focus the left light on left eyes of a plurality of viewers, a
display mode changer for changing a display mode between a
stereoscopic image display mode and a normal plane image display
mode in accordance with locations the viewers, and a lighting
controller for designating to light the right and left light-cells
so as to address lights spatially modulated by the first spatial
modulator to the right eyes of the viewers and the other lights
spatially modulated by the second spatial modulator to the left
eyes of the viewers when the display mode changer selects the
stereoscopic image display mode and to address the lights spatially
modulated by either of the first and second spatial modulators to
both the right and left eyes of the viewers when the display mode
changers selects the normal plane image display mode.
Addition objects and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the
following description and the accompanying drawings, which are
hereby incorporated in and constitute a part of this
specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of
the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the
same becomes better understood by reference to the following
detailed description when considered in connection with the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a principal structure of the
stereoscopic image display apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the
stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present
invention;
FIGS. 3a to 3c are timing charts showing the operations of the
alternately displayed parallax images and the shutter operation in
the stereoscopic image display apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 4a and 4b are diagrams showing examples of the position and
the size of the shutter-cells in the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the
stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present
invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing still another embodiment of
the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present
invention;
FIGS. 7a and 7b are diagrams showing exemplified positions of the
shutter-cells designated on the shutter panel in the stereoscopic
image display apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6;
FIGS. 8a and 8b are diagrams showing other examples of the position
of the shutter-cells on the shutter panel in the stereoscopic image
display apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6;
FIGS. 9a and 9b are diagrams showing other examples of the light
sources equivalent in their operation with the light source, the
diffuser panel and the shutter panel according to the present
invention; and
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing one example of the
conventional stereoscopic image display apparatus; and
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the
conventional stereoscopic image display apparatus in the state
providing a stereoscopic view to a viewer.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 9, preferred embodiments of the present
invention will be explained hereinafter. FIG. 1 is a diagram
showing a basic configuration of the present invention. In FIG. 1,
11 denotes a light source which is able to provide shutter-cells
11aR, 11bR respectively associated with the right eyes of viewers
15a, 15b and shutter-cells 11aL, 11bL respectively associated with
the left eyes of viewers 15a, 15b. The light source 11 can be
achieved by providing a light source and an LCD shutter panel in
front of the light source, wherein the shutter panel is able to
control its light transmission and blocking positions, as will be
described in detail in reference to FIG. 2 later.
Lights from the light source 11 pass through a convex lens 12 and
then focuses on the right eyes and the left eyes of the viewers.
The lights passing through the convex lens 12 again pass through an
LCD spatial modulator 18. The LCD spatial modulator 13 displays an
image associated with the viewer's right eye when the light source
11 emits lights associated with the right eyes, and it display the
image associated with the viewer's left eye when the light source
11 emits lights associated with the left eyes.
In the drawing solid lines represent light paths for providing a
stereoscopic view to the viewer 15b, while dotted lines represent
light paths for providing a stereoscopic view to the viewer
15a.
A tracker/interface 14 determines the stereoscopic image display or
the normal plane image display in accordance with the position of
the viewer or his/her instruction. When the viewer 15a tilts
his/her head, and then it is difficult to fuse the right and left
stereoscopic images with each other or to provide the viewer 15a
with a stereoscopic view, the tracker/interface 14 recognizes the
condition and provides information as a result if the recognition
to the controller 16. Then the controller 16 controls the light
source 11 so as to designate shutter-cells for presenting the
viewer 15a with a normal plane image display.
That is, it operates to provide the normal plane image display to
the viewer 15a. There are a various ways of presenting such normal
plane image display as described later.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the
stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present
invention. The stereoscopic image display, as shown in FIG. 2, is
characterized by that it is provided with an LCD spatial modulator
25 as the spatial modulator for alternatively displaying the right
and the left images.
In the stereoscopic image display apparatus of the embodiment, as
shown in FIG. 2, the optical source 11 is comprised of an optical
source 21, a diffuser panel 22 and an LCD shutter panel 23. 24
denotes a convex lens, 25 denotes an LCD spatial modulator, and 26a
and 26b denote viewers, respectively.
The tracker/interface 14 is comprised of a camera 27, an
eye-tracker 28 and a receiver 29 for receiving a remote control
signal from a remote controller 16 operable by the viewers. The
controller 16 is comprised of a light-cell designator 30, and a
light source controller 31. 32 is an LCD spatial modulator
controller, which supplies the right image signal and the left
image signal in turn to the LCD spatial modulator 25. The supply
timing signal is applied also to the light source controller 31 of
the controller 16.
The light from the light source 21 becomes the diffusion light
thorough the diffuser panel 22 and input to the LCD shutter panel
23. On the LCD shutter panel 23, in FIGS. 4a and 4b shutter-cells
23aL, 23aR, 23bL and 23bR are defined. The shutter-cells 23aL 23aR
are addressed to the viewer 26a, while the shutter-cells 23bL, 23bR
are addressed to the viewer 26b. The shutter-cells are controlled
by the light source controller 31, the diffusion light passes
through the shutter-cells. The positions of the shutter-cells 23aL,
23aR, 23bL and 23bR are associated with the left and right eyes of
the viewers 26a and 26b in a one-to-one relationship. When the
number of the viewers changes, the designation of the shutter-cell
associated with the viewer's eyes are controlled in accordance with
the increase or decrease of the viewers.
The location information of the viewer is fed back as the position
of the shutter-cell. In one embodiment, the eye-tracker 28 tracks
the eye movement of the viewers based on the pictures of the
viewers taken by camera 27. The eye-position information obtained
by the eye-tracker 28 is transferred to the light-cell designator
30. The light-cell designator 30 sets up the position of the
shutter-cell associated with the eyes of the viewer based on the
eye-position information. The set up result is sent to the light
pass/block controller 31. Accordingly, the shutter-cell position of
the LCD shutter panel 23 is decided.
Then, the lights passing through the shutter-cells 23aL, 23aR,
23bL, and 23bR are focused around the eyes of the viewers 26a, 26b
by the convex lens positioned between the convex lens 23 and the
viewers 26a, 26b, is a LCD spatial modulator 25 for alternatively
displaying the right and the left images which are output by the
panel control apparatus 32, so that the viewers 26a, 26b can
observe the stereoscopic image, i.e., the alternately displayed
right and left images.
The control operation of the shutter-cells 23aL, 23aR for
presenting the stereoscopic image to the viewer 26a (hereafter the
operation will be referred to as a 3D mode operation ) will be
explained in reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 3ais a timing chart
of the right and left images with a parallax therebetween,
alternately projected on the LCD spatial modulator 25. FIG. 3b is a
timing chart showing the open/close operation of the shutter-cell
23aL, 23aR associated with the right and left eyes in the 3D mode
operation.
As seen from FIGS. 3a to 3c, when the image for right eye is
displayed on the LCD spatial modulator 25, the shutter-cell 23aR
associated with the right eye is activated while the shutter-cell
23aL associated wit the left eye is deactivated. When the image for
the left eye is displayed on the LCD spatial modulator 25, the
shutter-cell 23aR associated with the right eye is deactivated,
while the shutter-cell 23aL associated with the left eye is
activated. Accordingly, the viewer can observe the display image as
the stereoscopic image by using parallax.
Now, the open/close operation of the shutter-cell in the normal
plane image display mode (hereafter the operation will be referred
to as a 2D mode operation) will be explained. FIG. 3c is timing
chart showing the shutter-cell open/close operation in the 2D mode
operation.
When the image for the right eye is displayed on the LCD spatial
modulator 25, both the shutter-cells 23aL, 23aR associated with
both right and left eyes are activated. When the image for left eye
is displayed both the shutter-cells 23aL, 23aR associated with both
right and left eyes are closed. Accordingly, the viewer observe the
image for the right eye among the display images as the plane
image.
The 3D and 2D mode operations are interchanged with each other in
accordance with the condition of the viewer. For instance, when the
viewer observing in the 3D mode operation tilts his/her head, a
shutter cell which focuses the right image on the right eye and the
left image on the left eye is selected. However, these image
contains only the horizontal parallax information, so that it is
hard to present the image stereoscopic. So, the light source
controller 31 changes the mode from 3D to 2D automatically, when
the viewer tilts his/her head more than the specific angle which is
set up that the fusion of the parallax image is difficult, based on
the result sent from the light-cell designator 30.
Further, even in the case that the viewer can observe the
stereoscopic image in the 3D mode operation (the state that the
parallax images can be fused) when the viewer wants to observe the
plane image in accordance with his/her intention he/she can change
the image display mode between the 3D and 2D mode operations at
his/her pleasure by sending the signal received in the receiver 29
to the light pass/block controller 31 by the radio such as the
remote controller. Here, this is not limited to the radio, but
other external input system may be adapted.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the position, the
size of the shutter and the timing of the open/close operation are
controlled separately. That is, when several viewers observe it,
the shutters associated with their eyes are controlled
separately.
In the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the
present invention, the same image can be provided in the 3D mode
operation to some viewers and in the 2D mode operation to some
viewers having some reasons as described above in one display
apparatus.
Further, according to the present invention, the shutter-cells
23bL, 23bR operated in the 2D mode operation explained in FIG. 2
may be set up as a region 231 including these two shutter-cells. In
this case, since it can take wide margin, the viewer can observe
the fine normal plane image display even when the viewer moves fast
and the movement of the shutter does not catch up. That is, it
controls to simultaneously open the left and right shutter-cells,
as shown in FIG. 3c. This is advantageous since it is not needed to
often control the shutter-cells when the viewer moves if a wide
region like the region 231 is defined in place of the shutter-cells
23bL, 23bR.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4b, when a region 232 operative in the 2D
mode operation is defined in covering all the shutter-cells other
than those operating in the 3D mode operation, the normal plane
image display can be observed by any viewers. That is when a small
hatched region, as shown in FIG. 4b, is defined, only the viewer
associated with the shutter-cells 23aL, 23aR can observe the image
in the 3D mode operation, while other viewers can observe the image
in the 2D mode operation in any location or posture of the
viewers.
Here, the shutter-cells associated with the eyes of the viewers are
explained in the four shutter-cells, that is, shutter-cells
addressed to two viewers. However, the number of viewers is not
limited. Also the number of the shutter-cells is not limited.
Further, the convex lens 24, as shown in the FIG. 2, serves to
focus the light from the light source onto the eyes of the viewers.
Then the convex lens 24 may be replaced by any other optical system
containing several lenses. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, such an
optical system may be comprised of the convex lens 24, the LCD
spatial modulator 25 and a projection lens 56 for projecting lights
to the convex Fresnel lens 57 in a shape of a light transmission
screen. In this case, the image is enlarged to the whole area of
the Fresnel lens 57. Thus viewers can enjoy a wide screen image. As
described above, the optical system is not limited to the single
convex lens system.
FIG. 6 shows a second preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
A stereoscopic image display apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6, is
characterized by that it is provided with an LCD spatial modulator
66R for displaying the right image, and the LCD spatial modulator
66L for displaying the left image.
The light from the light source 61 is diffused by diffuser panels
62R, 62L, and incidents to the LCD shutter panels 63R, 63L. On
either LCD shutter panels 63R, 63L, the shutter-cells 64R, 64L are
designated. The designation is carried out by the LCD shutter panel
controller 614. The diffusion light passes through these
shutter-cells.
Here the positions of the shutter-cells 64R, 64L are respectively
associated with left and right eyes of the viewer 69 in a
one-to-one relationship. In the same manner as the above-described
first embodiment, the positions of the shutter-cells are controlled
by feeding back information of the location of the viewer. That is,
an eye-tracker 611 tracks movements of eyes of the viewers based on
pictures of the viewers captured by a camera 610. The shutter-cell
designator 613 designates the shutter-cells associated with the
eyes of the viewer in reference to the eye-position information.
Then the LCD shutter panel controller 614 drives the shutter-cells
designated by the shutter-cell designator 613.
The light passing through the shutter-cells 64R, 64L are condensed
by convex lenses 65R, 65L, reflected by reflectors 67R, 67L,
combined by a semi-transparent mirror 68, then focuses around the
eyes of the viewer 69.
Between the convex lenses 65R, 65L and the viewer 69, there is
located LCD spatial modulators 66R, 66L for showing the right eye
parallax image and the left eye parallax image under the control of
spatial modulator controllers 612R, 612L. According to the above
configuration a viewer 69 can observe the display image.
The operations of the LCD shutter panels 63R, 63L in the 3D mode
operation for presenting a stereoscopic image to the viewer 69 will
be explained in reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
FIG. 7a shows appearances of the LCD shutter panels 63R, 63L in the
3D mode operation.
On the LCD shutter panel 63R the shutter-cells 64 associated with
the right eye of the viewer is activated. The light passing through
the shutter-cells 64R is modulated by the LCD spatial modulator 66R
in a state presenting the right image and then focused on the right
eye of the viewer 69. On the LCD shutter panel 63L the
shutter-cells 64L associated with the left eye of the viewer is
activated. The light after passing through the shutter-cells 64L is
modulated by the LCD spatial modulator 66L in the state presenting
the left image and then focused on the left eye of the viewer.
According to the operation, the viewer can observe the stereoscopic
image.
Next, the operations of the LCD shutter panel 63R, 63L for
presenting a normal plane image to the viewer will be explained in
reference to FIG. 7b. FIG. 7b shows appearances of the LCD shutter
panels 63R, 63L in the 2D mode operation.
On the LCD spatial modulator 63R the shutter-cells 64R associated
with the right eye of the viewer and the shutter-cells 64L
associated with the left eye of the viewer are activated. The light
after passing through the shutter is modulated by the LCD spatial
modulator 66R in the state displaying the right image, and then
focused on both the right and left eyes of the viewer. On the LCD
63L shutter panel, the shutter-cells associated with both eyes of
the viewer are deactivated. Of if they are activated, the light
passing through them fails to reach the eyes of the viewer.
According to the above operation, the viewer 69 can receive only
the image associated with his/her right eye and thus observes a
normal plane image.
In the same manner as the embodiment as described above in the 3D
and 2D mode operations, even when the viewer observing the image in
the 3D mode operation tilts his/her head more than the specific
angle which is hard to fuse the parallax image, the LCD shutter
panel controller 614 changes the image display mode from the 3D
mode operation to the 2D mode operation automatically based on the
designation by the shutter-cell designator 613.
Even when the viewer can observe the stereoscopic image in the 3D
mode operation, i.e., in the condition that the parallax image is
hard to be fused together, the viewer can change the image display
mode from the 3D mode operation to the 2D mode operation at his/her
pleasure through the interface such as the receiver 615 for
receiving the remote control signal from the remote controller
operable by the viewer to the shutter-cell designator 613. Here the
interface can be realized by any external input system, other than
such a remote control system.
Further, according to the present invention, the shutter-cells 64R,
64L operating in the 2D mode operation, as shown in FIG. 7b, may be
replaced by a region 621 including these two shutter-cells, as
shown in FIG. 8a. In this case, it can take a wide margin like the
first embodiment. Thus the viewer can observe a good quality of the
normal plane image display.
As shown in FIG. 8b, by defining a region 622 operating in the 2D
mode operation the normal plane image display can be observed by
many viewers.
Here the shutter-cells associated with the eyes of the viewer have
been explained as two shutter-cells, that is, the case addressed
the single viewer. However, the number of viewers, and the number
of shutter-cells are not limited.
The convex lens 65, as shown in FIG. 6, serves to focus the light
from the light source on the eyes of the viewers. Such a lens
system may be replaced with any other optical system containing a
plurality of lenses, and thus not limited to the type of one convex
lens.
Here, the image presented in the 2D mode operation has been
explained as the right image. However, it may not be limited to the
light for the right eye but may be adapted to the left eye. Though
the right image or the left image is selected by the viewer, in the
case that the image signal is recorded at the compression rates
different between the right and left images, the image having the
lower compression rate will be automatically selected.
Furthermore, the light source 21, the diffuse panel 22, and the LCD
shutter panel 23, as shown in FIG. 2, or the light source 61, the
diffuse panel 62R and the LCD shutter panel 63R and the light
source 61, the diffuse panel 62L and LCD shutter panel 63L, as
shown in FIG. 6, may be replaced with a light source 901 with a
two-dimensional configuration including a plurality of light cells.
It is also possible to use a monochromic cathode-ray tube 902, as
shown in FIG. 9b. Thus it is not limited by the embodiments as
described above.
As described above, the present invention can provide a
stereoscopic image display capable of presenting both the
stereoscopic image display and the normal plane image display or
capable of changing between the stereoscopic image display and the
normal plane image display in accordance with situations of
viewers. So, in the case that the viewer tilts his/her head or the
parallax images are hard to be fused together into a stereoscopic
image, the viewer can still observe the plane image by changing
from the stereoscopic image display. Further, even in the case when
the viewer is hard to observe the stereoscopic image due to a
fatigue in his/her eyes, the normal plane image display is changed
from the stereoscopic image display so as to avoid the burden to
his/her eyes.
As described above, the present invention can provide an extremely
preferable stereoscopic image display apparatus.
While there have been illustrated and described what are at present
considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it
will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes
and modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted
for elements thereof without departing from the true scope of the
present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to
adapt a particular situation or material to the teaching of the
present invention without departing from the central scope thereof.
Therefor, it is intended that the present invention not be limited
to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode
contemplated for carrying out the present invention, but that the
present invention includes all embodiments falling within the scope
of the appended claims.
The foregoing description and the drawings are regarded by the
applicant as including a variety of individually inventive
concepts, some of which may lie partially or wholly outside the
scope of some or all of the following claims. The face that the
applicant has chosen at the time of filing of the present
application to restrict the claimed scope of the protection in
accordance with the following claims is not to be taken as a
disclaimer or alternative inventive concepts that are included in
the contents of the application and could be defined by claims
differing in scope from the following claims, which different
claims may be adopted subsequently during prosecution, for example,
for the purposes of a divisional application.
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